Kwanza Johnson Archives - Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources

Former Marvel and DC Comics editor Kwanza Johnson is teaming with Kill Shakespeare artist Andy Belanger on a no-nonsense single-panel webcomic series whose concept is boiled down in its title: Insta★Cop. Alumni of DC’s Zuda webcomics imprint, Johnson and Belanger seem to be keeping that spirit alive in this strip.

“[Lead character] John Cop is a man on a mission. A mission to eat donuts, drink coffee and dispense justice to punks who would defy the law,” they explain on their Facebook page. ” The story updates every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Wear shades while you read, it might burn your eyes.”

This is the first time Johnson has written a published comic that I’m aware of, but he’s built goodwill with his work at DC and Marvel. Belanger has been doling out his own comic justice with Kill Shakespeare and the greatly missed Bottle of Awesome webcomic.

Here’s the first week’s worth of material, which gives you an idea what to expect moving forward:

Welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading? Today our special guest is Kevin Colden, whose comic work includes Fishtown, I Rule the Night, Vertigo’s Strange Adventures and Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper, among others. He’s also the drummer for the band Heads Up Display.

To see what Kevin and the Robot 6 crew have been reading lately, click below …

Molly Crabapple is a successful entrepreneur (as the founder of the Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School) and storyteller. After a recent book tour to support her new Fugu Press book, Scarlett Takes Manhattan, she indulged me in a quick email interview. Her graphic novel is described (on the book’s back cover) as “A young woman orphaned in tragic circumstances (by a pair of copulating circus elephants) rises to become the foremost burlesque performer of her era: Scarlett O’Herring.”

Molly Crabapple: Years ago, I did a catalog cover for a company owned by Christophe (big cheese at Fugu). When he decided to found a comics publishing company, he asked if I had any ideas for graphic novels. The rest, history…

O’Shea: You clearly love to explore the art of sexuality through your work. In those terms, what was the most enjoyable or challenging scene to convey in Scarlett Takes Manhattan?

Crabapple: I actually loved the scene where Scarlett is working as a dock prostitute and is able to avoid an unpleasant client with the help of a watermelon. Sadly, a watermelon was worth more than a blowjob in 1884.